USTFCCCA Official Release
Moon Township, Pa. – Junior Rachael Kotula (East Berlin, Pa. / Bermudian Springs) of the Robert Morris University women's track & field team was honored Wednesday for her work in the classroom and on the field, as she earned U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic plaudits.
To qualify for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Track & Field Team, a student-athlete must have compiled a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.25 and have met one of two athletic standards. For the indoor season, a student-athlete must have finished the regular season ranked in the national top 96 in an individual event or ranked in the top 48 (collective listing) in a relay event on the official NCAA POP list provided by TFRRS.org. For the outdoor season, a student-athlete must have participated in any round of the NCAA Division I Championships (including preliminary rounds).
A biology major, Kotula owns a cumulative GPA of 3.85 and became the second female student-athlete in school history to qualify for the NCAA Championships in 2013, competing in the javelin.
Kotula unleashed a personal best toss of 47.04 meters (154'4") at the 2013 NCAA East Preliminary Round (5/25/13) in Greensboro, N.C., on the campus of North Carolina A&T to finish 11th in the event and qualify for the NCAA Championships. Her distance ranks eighth in the event in the RMU record book.
At the 2013 NCAA Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, Kotula earned Honorable Mention All-America accolades after finishing 24th thanks to a toss of 40.93 meters (134'3").
Kotula joined former Colonial Stephanie Kuhn (2004-07) as the only student-athletes in program history to compete in the NCAA Championships, as Kuhn competed in the javelin as a freshman in 2004 and again as a senior in 2007.
